Ursula Pari knows . . .

:
September 1, 2010

KSAT anchorwoman Ursula Pari is, as she put it, “approaching 50 real fast” and knows how unforgiving the TV business can be as one gets older.

“Particularly now with HD,” she said of the clearer, sharper image the new high definition technology presents to the viewer, “exposing every flaw.”

What helps Pari stay looking and feeling good on her S.A. job of nearly 15 years is exercise. “I've always kept an active lifestyle. When you don't let yourself wander too far from being fit, it helps you later,” she said. “You've got to keep that metabolism rolling, even if it's a token 20-minute walk.”

Over lunch at Cappyccino's, Pari certainly appeared slim and healthy.

“I try,” she said. Assisting her is a membership to the YMCA, where she takes her two kids, Jackson, 9, and Georgia, 5. “I like the one near Monte Vista, because my son can work out with me there.”

As co-anchor of KSAT's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, she's busy most afternoons and evenings, so Pari makes sure “mornings are ours,” she said. Jackson and Georgia also share a passion of hers: horseback riding. She tries to take them to the stables several times a week. Pari's a longtime pro in the saddle, having participated in rodeo riding — “barrels, goat tying, breakaway calf roping” — during high school in Lafayette, La., where she grew up.

Initially, both kids were “kind of skittish” about riding, she said. However, she put them in horse camp for a week where they learned the basics of riding. “Now they really know what they're doing.”

Pari isn't shy about talking about health challenges that have affected her and her kids. “In my family, heart problems are pervasive. Everyone has high blood pressure after 35,” she said. “If I don't exercise, (my blood pressure) shoots way up.”

When she was younger, she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism — an overactive thyroid — which can cause severe nervousness and fatigue. She had 90 percent of her thyroid removed back in the '80s, she said, and everything was fine for many years.

Then she became pregnant and developed the opposite problem: hypothyroidism. After discovering her thyroid was underperforming, she started using medication to keep it under control.

Making sure her kids remain healthy and strong has been more complicated. Jackson was born with pulmonary valve stenosis, a blockage of the heart valve. “He's had two angioplasties so far,” she said, adding that now he's doing great. “He's truly flourished this (past) year. He's growing, but his heart has maintained itself.” Georgia has the same problem, she said, but “very mild in her case.”

Watching their diet, of course, is a must. Pari makes sure fat content and sugar are low. “I give them lots of high protein,” she said. She also doesn't use much salt. “If you season something well, you don't need a lot.”

She relies instead on onion, garlic and bell pepper, which she calls “the holy trinity of Cajun cooking.”

Pari keeps her energy levels up while at work with snacks: almonds and orange and watermelon slices. She usually rushes home between shows and “throws a piece of fish in the skillet” for dinner.

She loves soups — which she makes from scratch. She even contemplated opening a soup restaurant. Her specialties include a black-eyed pea and spinach variety and a tomato soup her kids like. Her own guilty pleasure? The macaroni and cheese soup from W.D. Deli.

Though Pari tries to eat healthfully, “I'm not a dieter,” she said. She knows she doesn't have to count calories if she engages in strenuous sports such as polo. “I started playing in '87, when I was working in Maine,” she recalled. “There was nothing to do in wintertime and I was getting cabin fever. Then, someone said ‘We have a huge barn that's warm and we play polo in there.' So I learned to sit on an English saddle and play polo.”

She's been at it ever since. “There aren't too many places to play around here,” she said, “so we trailer to Houston, McAllen, Lockhart, Austin.”

Getting that workout on the field is a boon to easing her blood pressure. So, surprisingly, is her job. While it can get stressful when a big story breaks, Pari said she's so comfortable with her team — co-anchor Steve Spriester, meteorologist Steve Browne and sportscaster Greg Simmons — that “I think my blood pressure actually goes down when I'm at the anchor desk.”

Jeanne Jakle writes about TV and entertainment for the San Antonio Express-News.